All Cats are Grey
by CoffeeandTweePop
Summary: A small act of rebellion changes what should have been as Minerva McGonagall disagrees with Dumbledore. Meanwhile, Remus manages to stop Sirius from making a grave mistake (AU; multiple POV, Dumbledore bashing, Slash, M/M, etc.) ... I don't own Harry Potter or the characters, JK Rowling does.


**Please note: that the first chapter relies heavily on the first chapter of the Philosophers Stone and including some dialogue – After which the story will be quite AU.**

A tabby cat sat on a garden wall facing Number Four, Privet Drive, watching as a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, with a dark bushy moustache kissed his thin, blonde wife on the cheek and got into his car and drive away.

The day passed slowly as the cat observed the comings and goings of the residents of Number Four, Privet Drive.

The cat watched as the thin, blonde woman tries to take her chubby son out for a stroll, only for the son to start kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Later returning with her son, looking utterly defeated and worn.

The cat continues to watch as the afternoon wears on and the large man returns home, only to immediately demand supper. Later that evening the cat listens, as the television in the living room is turned on and reports of shooting stars and owl sightings are played on the news.

Shortly before midnight, the last light in the house is switched off, and all is quiet and still.

Suddenly, a grandfatherly old man wearing robes and a purple cloak appeared on the corner the cat had been watching. The cat's tail twitched, and its eyes narrowed.

Laying eyes on the cat, the man chuckled, "Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."

He blinks, but the cat is gone. Standing in its place is a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, rather than wearing a cloak, dons an overcoat over some white button-down shirt and simple slacks. Her black hair was drawn into a bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.

"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day, Albus," states Professor McGonagall dryly. "All day? When could you have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." The man said, eyes twinkling.

Professor McGonagall narrows her eyes at the man, angrily. "Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right, you'd think with the statue of secrecy we would be a bit more careful, but no -Muggles have noticing things. It was even on their news." She jerked her head back at the dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls. Shooting stars. Well, they're not completely stupid."

"Of course not, my dear Minerva."

Professor McGonagall hesitates, choosing her next words carefully.

"Are the rumours true, Albus? About what finally stopped him?"

Albus Dumbledore avoids looking into her eyes and stays silent.

"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. That he went to find the Potters. That Lily and James Potter are dead and that Voldemort has vanished too".

"I'm afraid so, Professor."

"But how? Their house should have been protected!"

"It appears that their secret keeper betrayed them".

"Who was their secret keeper?" Hesitating again "was it Remus?" She hates to think that he could betray them but he had in that werewolf colony for months.

"No... Sirius was their secret keeper".

"Surely not. There must be a mistake!"

"My dear Minerva, I wish it was a mistake. But I was there when he became the secret keeper; I cast the charm myself".

"No. It can't be." Feeling stricken, Minerva pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her glasses. Taking a breath, she glances at Albus once more.

"What about the boy, what happened to Harry?"

"Hagrid has him. He's late. I suppose it was he who mentioned I would be here?"

"Yes," said Minerva. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"

"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They are the only family he has left now."

"You don't mean — you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, at the house once more.

"Albus, No! They're the worst sort of Muggles imaginable. You honestly couldn't find a worse family to leave him with".

"It's the best place for him," Dumbledore states, eyes twinkling behind his half-moon specs. "His aunt and uncle can take care of him. I've written them a letter explaining everything". "A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Albus, you think you can explain all this in a letter? Even if they take you at your word, who is to say that they will take in the child?"

"I have the utmost confidence, which the Dursleys will take care of Harry until he is of age. I will hear no more on this topic, Minerva".

A low rumbling sound can now be heard, steadily getting louder as a large motorcycle with an even larger man fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.

"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?" "Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke.

"No problems, were there?". "No, sir — the house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right." Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over a bundle of blankets. Inside, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead, they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning. "Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall. "Yes," Dumbledore states as he takes the bundle from Hagrid's arms, steps over the low garden wall and walks to the front door. He lays Harry gently on the doorstep, takes a letter out of his cloak, tucks it inside Harry's blankets, and then walks back to the other two.

As Hagrid leaves, Dumbledore turns to Professor McGonagall. "I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall." And with that, he disappears.

Alone again, Minerva walks towards the doorstep, a chilly breeze sweeping around her as she bends down to examine the sleeping child once again. She doesn't have a good feeling about this, but she can't know what will happen. Weighing up her options, she comes to a decision.

Casting a charm to keep Harry warm and free of the elements. Minerva transforms into a tabby cat once more, stalks back over to the garden wall, leaps forward, curls up and waits.

A few hours later, Harry is awoken by Mrs Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out some milk bottles.

While shocked, Mrs Dursley quickly settles herself enough to pick up the child and returns inside. His eyes look just like Lily's. In fact, that blanket was Lily's own when she was a child. Walking into the kitchen, she unwraps the blanket from the child and places him into the highchair by the kitchen table and begins to read the letter.

 _Dear Petunia,_

 _It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that your sister Lily, as well as her husband James Potter, were killed last night. They were murdered by a dark wizard, who goes by the name Lord Voldemort. Harry survived and with no other living relatives, I must implore you to take him in._

 _I know that you and your sister did not see eye to eye. But I must_ _stress_ _the importance of you taking Harry in as_ _a magical protection_ _will be placed on both Harry and your family that will ensure your safety_ _until the day Harry turns seventeen._

 _The consequences that could befall you and your family if you turn Harry away could be_ _disastrous_ _._

 _Regards,_

 _Albus Dumbledore_

As she finishes the letter, a strange sensation comes over her. Petunia Dursley blinks and glances again at the child in front of her. Anger quickly envelopes her.

In a peculiar office, in a large castle, somewhere in Scotland, Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling once more, as he felt the compulsions take hold on the residents of Number Four, Privet Drive.

 ****Notes: I haven't really got a plan of where this story is going so if there is something you'd like to see – please leave a comment.**


End file.
